Angel
by BrokenChosenofEva
Summary: Angel arc of the Pilot's Table series. Asuka and Touji Pilot the Evas, but a surprise awaits at the end of the road. [complete]
1. Chapter 1

**Neon Genesis Evangelion**

_Pilot's Table_

By D.A.

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Title: Bardiel Down  
Prompt: Set 1 / Prompt 38 (Together)  
Word Count: 1500+  
Rating: T  
Summary: Pilots together, to the end.

Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or anything connected to it.

Notes: Part one of the "Angel" arc. Might have a couple more chapters to add later, but we'll see. lol

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Asuka slammed her laptop shut and turned to glare out the window, as several chairs over Touji sat in near total confusion as to what he had done to get that response. Hikari, two chairs in front of Asuka, glanced back at him, her childhood friend, and sighed shaking her head with a sad smile on her lips.

Touji frowned back at Hikari and then looked back down at his screen, mentally going over what had lead to his last statement and thus her response.

_Shouldn'ta said I used to like Hikari…_ he groaned, _shoulda just asked her what she meant, like most dumb jocks…_

Putting his face in his hands, Touji sighed and wondered for the tenth time why he was taking his little sister's advice and trying to get to know Asuka.

The door to the class room opened, and as the teacher walked in Touji decided to try and apologize at the apartment. _But I still don't think Asuka likes me._

000

_So much for figurin' out what's wrong at the apartment_…

Touji frowned inside Unit-02's entry plug as he and Asuka waited for the Angel to crest the hills between them and the Matsushiro facility. Both of them cradled the newer railgun given to Nerv after the disastrous attack of the thirteenth Angel.

"Have we heard from Misato yet?" Asuka, secure in Unit-01, asked over the radio for the fifth time in the last fifteen minutes. While Unit-02 was technically her unit, after what happened to Touji in Unit-01 when he sortied against Zeruel, no one wanted him in it again.

"No, not yet." was Lt. Ibuki's reply, "I told you, when we hear from them I'll let you know immediately."

"I know, I know."

"Geez Asuka, ya'd think ya were worried or somethin'…" Touji mumbled.

"Despite what your Otaku stooge friend says behind my back, I am not a heartless demon!" apparently not quietly enough to avoid Asuka's good hearing. Though at least she was talking to him again.

"Fer cryin' out loud Soryu," Touji whined, "I was jus' jokin'!"

"Well it wasn't funny, Stooge!"

"Target now cresting the ridge!" Maya yelled over their argument, a mix of annoyance and panic in her voice, just as the Angel's head appeared over the hill.

"That's the new Eva unit!" Touji yelled.

The black and pink Unit-03 slouched its way over the hill, swinging its arms back and forth limply. Eyes glowing red and jaw hanging open, almost seeming unhinged, the Eva/Angel was perhaps the most unnerving either Child-Pilot had seen so far.

"Moving out!" Asuka yelled as she ran her unit towards the Eva, "Is it Piloted?"

"Unknown." Maya replied, "We can't get any telemetry from the Plug."

"Engage and destroy the angel." Kozo ordered, "Retrieve the Entryplug if doing so does not put you at risk."

"…Understood." Asuka spoke, hesitating only a moment before dropping into a kneeling position and aiming her rifle. Extending her AT-Field out to erode the Angel's, she opened fire at it's knees.

The rounds blasted into the suddenly unoccupied terrain as the Eva/Angel flipped through the air to land on Unit-01's shoulders, slamming it face first into the ground as Asuka screamed in surprise.

"Asuka!" Touji yelled from his seat inside Unit-02, as what felt like the entire world once again came crashing down along with Asuka's Eva, even while he raced to reach her before the Angel could kill her. A feeling far too similar to the battle with Zeruel for his liking.

The obviously violent and Angel controlled Unit-03 snapped Unit-01's right arm backward and tore it from its socket, then proceeded to slam its newly acquired weapon against the armor over the Plug Socket. All the while Asuka alternated between raging at the Angel, and screaming in pain. After a moment, Asuka stopped screaming, and the Angel suddenly seemed bored.

Touji froze. In an instant, it felt like he had just lost everything important to him. And it HURT.

Screaming incoherently, Touji rammed the butterfly handles forward and launched his chariot at the Angel. Slamming into it, he wondered why it had been so easy to hit it. His thought was answered a moment later when the Angel dropped out of his grip and spun its arm against the back of his knees, dropping him to the ground.

It had wanted him close.

Rolling to the side and onto his stomach, Touji pushed off with his hands and feet like a frog, leaping a short distance away. Catching himself, he rolled his Eva into a crouch, ready to leap at or away from the Angel, only to receive a punch to the face.

Reeling back, Touji reacted on instinct. Blindly swinging his fist up and around, he felt it connect with the Angel just as the stars left his vision. The Angel responded by flipping Unit-02 through the air towards Unit-01.

"Damn." rolling to his feet, Touji tapped a switch set into the face of the left joystick, revealing the Prog. Knife in the left pylon. Drawing it, he hoped he knew what he was doing.

Seeing Unit-02 draw the weapon, the Angel snapped its arms up and flicked them at Touji. Extending like a bungee cord, the Eva's arms reached across the distance to wrap around Unit-02's neck. Beginning to choke, Touji slashed into the Angel's left arm, the knife's blade biting deep. Shrieking in indignation, the Angel release its grip with that hand, pulling it back as the Prog. Knife slid from the cut, and viciously backhanded Unit-02.

Touji spun and slammed to the ground, stars coating his vision for several seconds before he rolled to his feet. His vision cleared just in time to see Unit-01 backhanded by the Eva/Angel with its rubber like right arm, sending her to crash down next to Touji.

"Asuka!" Touji cried, then crouched as the Angel possessed Eva charged him.

"Get its core," Asuka gasped over the radio, "Save the Pilot."

Right as the Angel reached him, Touji smashed his right thumb down on the switch simply marked Spike L.

The Eva/Angel stumbled and slammed into Unit-02, and Touji promptly stood and flipped it behind him. The possessed Unit-03 slammed to the ground, and Asuka in Unit-01 dropped to it's knees next to it. It was at this point that Touji noticed the extra damage to both Unit-01 and Unit-03, damage which must have been incurred while he was trying to clear his head.

"Don't be dead, please don't be dead…" Asuka's murmured prayer could just barely be heard over the radio as she attempted to remove the Plug from the defeated Eva with only one hand. Suddenly cold inside, Touji moved over and gently moved her aside and carefully pried the armor plate off, then used his recovered Prog. Knife to pry the Entryplug free. Seeing Unit-01 kneel in preparation for ejecting its Entryplug Touji called over to Asuka.

"Asuka, wait fer the medics-"

"NO!"

Touji jerked at the vehemence in Asuka's voice, but carefully set the freed Plug gently on the ground. Ejecting his own Plug, Touji scrambled down the emergency ladder to the ground, and raced over to where Asuka had crashed to the ground. Despite her obviously limp right arm, Asuka had managed to climb the nearly sixty feet from Plug to ground before slipping and falling the last ten.

"I have to make sure I didn't kill him…" Asuka gasped as she tried to stand, "I won't be a murderer."

"Then wait here while I check on it!" Touji spoke firmly, gently pushing Asuka back down, careful to put his hand high on her left shoulder to avoid being called a pervert, as he knelt next to her.

"Fine," Asuka growled, panic still flitting through her eyes, though her expression was hard, "Be quick about it."

Nodding, Touji stood and raced towards the slightly bent Entryplug. As he reached the small emergency hatch, Touji noticed that it looked different from his and Asuka's Plugs. White with red trim, instead of the Eva's number stenciled on the side it simply read Dummy Plug-A.

_Please don't be dead. Please, please don't be dead…_

Opening the hatch, Touji glanced inside only to see a mass of piping and sparking circuitry still thinly coated in LCL, the majority of which now pooled on the ground.

"There's no one inside…" Touji called back, both confused and relieved, "It's just a big computer…"

Turning, Touji looked back to find Asuka had passed out. Jogging back, Touji checked her plugsuit's wrist block, and seeing the steady flash of the heart monitor he then stood and jogged back to his Eva to call in the med-evac VTOL.

Climbing back out, Touji jogged back to Asuka. Sitting down next to her, he carefully lifted her head enough to gently balance it on his leg so it wasn't on the ground.

"That was too close to home, huh, Asuka?" he murmured, glancing over at the downed Eva and bent Entryplug. "Us Pilots gotta stick together…"

_Way too close… There's only two of us, so we can't lose anyone. _Touji thought, _So I'm not gonna let you ignore me. We're gonna work together to keep those kids safe, and see this to the end. Even if the end kills us._

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A/N: If you haven't noticed, in I'm Needed, the order in which the Angels appear is altered from canon. In the original chapter 2 of Pilot's Table, I mention Asuka and Touji had just battled Bardiel, and Touji had been trapped inside Unit-01 before that, like Shinji after Zeruel in canon.

Up to the 13th, the order is unchanged. The 13th in I'm Needed is Zeruel, instead of Bardiel. The 14th is Bardiel instead of Zeruel. And Kaworu appears, without an Eva, before Armasael, though he is still considered the seventeenth.

Arael and Armasael also trade places.

In short, the order of third through seventeenth is as follows: Sachiel, Shamshel, Ramiel, Gaghiel, Israfel, Sandalphon, Matriel, Sahaquiel, Iruel, Leliel, Zeruel, Bardiel, Armasael, Arael, Tabris.


	2. Chapter 2

**Neon Genesis Evangelion**

_Pilot's Table_

By D.A.

Beta-ed by Zephyrus Genesis

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Title: I Promised, You Promised

Prompt: Set 1 / Prompt 8 (Promise)

Word Count: 1200+

Rating: T

Summary: Asuka made a promise to Touji, and finds out he made the same promise without even knowing it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or anything connected to it.

Notes: This one is based in my AU I'm Needed. As of the time of this writing, Feb 2010, I have only about five chapters for my fanfic, and find myself hit with writer's block. Hopefully, this will get me going again.

(2013/4/20) Part two of the "Angel" arc. A few minor edits, change of wording here and there.

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"I promised. Did you hear me?" Asuka whispers, shoulders tense.

Touji listens from the door of the children's room as Asuka checked on Shinji, Rei, and Mari, asleep in their beds.

"Yeah, I heard ya." he gruffly whispers back, looking as tense as she did. Asuka straightens up before turning to him.

"I wasn't kidding, stooge." she glares, and he jerks his head in a nod.

"I know," he nods his head towards the living room, "When you're kiddin', ya fling a lot a insults."

Asuka walks past Touji and into the living room, flopping down on the small sofa, none of the tension leaving her frame. Touji walks in just as tense and sits on the small, overstuff chair he'd bought after Nerv moved him into the building. Their movements are rigid, mechanical, automatic almost.

He'd originally had his own apartment, but his little sister, and Rei and Shinji, had convinced Asuka and him to move into Asuka's apartment. But, he didn't really mind too much. He'd be the first to admit he can't really cook, and Mari would agree the way only eight year olds can: innocently blunt.

The fact that the two ten-year-old kids worked together and gave him and Asuka some breathing room after school and Nerv was nice too. But no matter how good they'd been today, it just hadn't helped. Nearly dying at the hands of an Angel that was controlling an Eva that you didn't know if it was Piloted or not tends to make you that level of tense.

"Things are getting harder…" she whispers, barely loud enough for him to hear, and he nods.

"If I heard Fuyutsuki right, we only have four more."

Both young teens sigh, the sound seeming far older than it should coming from ones as young as them, and Asuka turns and lays down on the sofa. Silence reigns for several moments before Touji speaks, hesitant at first, but slowly growing more confident.

"I've been thinkin' …"

"Does it hurt?" Asuka quips, interrupting him, sensing the seriousness in his voice without seeing the concentration on his face.

"I've been thinkin'. About while I was trapped in Unit-One…"

Asuka sits up, looking at him with a blank expression, but all her attention is focused on him.

"I remember bits and pieces from when I was in there. There was a woman… brown haired and blue eyed, like Shinji."

"Yui." Asuka whispers the woman's name, her voice neutral. Touji shrugs.

"I think we talked for a while, her askin' questions and me answerin' them. She said Shinji and Rei are very important."

"Damn right they are."

"Asuka, let me finish." Touji snaps quietly, and Asuka stills, "She said we have to keep them safe. Made me promise her and everythin' ."

Touji pauses, his expression a visible argument over whether or not to say more. After a few moments, he spoke again.

"Then, we talked some more. It was 'bout you this time…"

"What?!" Asuka blurts, staring at him, and Touji refuses to look her in the face and turns away, but not before she caught a glimpse of a blush on his cheeks.

"I don't remember what we said, except… except she made me promise something' else…" he turns back to face her, faint red still on his cheeks, but his face hardened and neutral, "The same promise you made to try and get me back."

"I promise I'll help you…" she whispers looking down the hall to the kid's room.

"Tuh keep'em safe…" he whispers and follows her gaze down the hall.

"And I won't ever leave you…"

"Jus' don't leave me."

"Manipulative bitch, isn't she?" Asuka asks, looking down at the carpet in the middle of the room.

"Just forceful…"

Asuka snaps her gaze up to Touji's face at the tone of humor in his voice. The faint, soft smile on his lips seemed to settle something in her a little.

"Between the you I see out there in battle, and the you I see here with those kid…."

"What…?" she whispers still edgy, but curious.

"I'll stay as long as ya let me… heck, maybe long after ya scream at me to leave." his face becomes serious, "I'm tired Asuka. Tired of Eva and Angels and being by myself."

"What if I'm not done standing by myself? Hmm?" Asuka questions, tense and defensive again.

"I am, Asuka." he says, eyes searching, voice firm, "Aren't you? I've proven myself. I'm not the best, but I bet I'm at least you're equal. And _I'm_ almost past tired of standing alone."

They sit in a tense silence, both searching the other's expression for some hint of the other's thoughts. Finally, after what seemed like hours but was only a couple minutes, Asuka almost imperceptibly nods her head, her gaze locks with his.

"I-I'll let you close…" she whispers, face still blank as his, eyes now unsure like his, "But if you leave again…"

"Hikari will kill me, If I don't end it myself." He smiles faintly, "You, my sister, and those two kids are too important to me for me to willingly leave."

Asuka's eye widen as she quietly sucks in a breath at his declaration. Touji stands up slowly, and Asuka stands up quickly, tense and ready to attack or run as he approaches the sofa. He stops just outside her personal space.

"I'm done being alone with Eva. Can we at least lean on each other?" his voice quiet, his body tense, and Asuka again gives him a tiny dip and rise of her chin. Looking down, she mumbles something, her right hand twitching as if she's fighting it from moving. She mumbles again, louder.

"Mama's not close enough." she looks up, a faint shine in her eyes, as finally one hand and then the other lift slowly.

Touji takes the hint and steps closer, the two teens sliding into a tense, edgy, embarrassed hug. Slowly, the tension leaves them, and they move from simply standing in each other's arms to holding and leaning into each other.

"I'm tired…" Asuka says shakily, her chin on Touji's shoulder and her breath lightly tickling his ear.

"Me too," he murmurs, not moving. Asuka smirks tiredly.

"That means you can let go."

"You first." and Asuka can hear the faint smile in his voice.

"Maybe… carry me." she says suddenly, and can feel Touji jerk at the request.

"You-I hav'ta-say what?!" he babbles, and Asuka chuckles, grinning over his shoulder.

"You heard me just fine, Stooge: carry me."

"Al-alright, Red" he gulps, then dips down and puts one arm behind her knees and swings it up, keeping the other arm behind her shoulders. Asuka squeaks and jerks her arms from his back to around his neck as he carries her bridal style to her room, and sets her on her bed. Touji stands up and steps back, to see Asuka's face as red as his feels. And his feels red enough to glow.

"Good night, Touji." she says, sitting and watching him leave the room.

"G'night, Asuka. I'll see ya tomorrow."

Touji gently closes the door, then crosses the hall to what was Shinji's room before he moved in. Asuka slept in Rei's old room, and the children all shared Asuka's old room.

Going in and sitting down on his futon, Touji flops back and puts his hands behind his head as he lays and stares at the ceiling. As the two teens drift off, neither can shake the feeling of still being warm and safe in the others arms, and silently hope they get to see where it might one day lead them.


	3. Chapter 3

_Neon Genesis Evangelion_

_**Pilot's Table**_

**By D.A.**

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**Title: 18th Choice  
Prompt: Set 1 / Prompt 6 (Trust)  
Word Count: 3400+  
Rating: T  
Summary: "When you see what I am, will we still trust each other?"**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or anything connected to it.**

Notes: Part 3 of the "Angel" story arc. Note at end

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"Free-will, right?" Asuka yelled at Kaworu, "Why are you doing this if you have free-will when all the other Angels didn't? What about me?"

"You are the Eighteenth, the Angel of Choice. What good is my free will, if I never had a choice." Kaworu said in a matter-of-fact tone, "Each of us built upon the last. I am more than the sixteen who came before me, and you are more than me."

Misato stared, unable to reconcile the sight before her with what she had come to accept as true. Angels burned cities, they didn't take care of kids. They destroyed lives, not lived them.

But as Asuka floated in the air in front of the massive white form of what Misato now knew was Lilith, she realized that she would have to let go of her hatred if she wanted to avoid losing the young girl that was her daughter in everything that mattered.

Hikari couldn't believe it either. Sitting within her chariot, having beaten down the Kaworu-controlled and partially rebuilt Unit-03, she could do no more than Misato. That, and switch between hoping Touji got there in time, and hoping he never saw this.

In front of Asuka hovered Kaworu Nagisa, the boy who had just openly declared himself the Seventeenth and challenged her to stop him and accept her fate as the Eighteenth Angel as she kept him from Lilith.

000

Ten minutes prior:

Asuka walked down the corridor towards what she knew was the Regeneration Cage that currently held Unit-03, only a few feet ahead of her walked Kaworu. He had asked her, serious instead of his usual laidback smile, if she would walk with him as he wanted to discuss something important with her. Although it had sent a strange shiver of apprehension down her spin, she had agreed and followed as he started walking.

It didn't help that the closer to the Cage they got, the more it looked like Kaworu was hesitant to continue. And the more it felt like a feeling of ice and fire began to flow in her veins and touch at the edge of her consciousness, making her hesitant as well.

"Kaworu, just tell me what you wanted to talk about already." she hated that she could hear her nervousness in her voice, and did her best to cover it with impatience.

Opening the door into the Cage, Kaworu sighed and walked a touch faster to stand in front of the mostly reformed Eva.

"I tried over and over in my mind to decide how I would say it." he murmurred, his voice sending an odd sense of fear and excitement through her, "But I'm at my limit, and all I can find to do is show you, my equal, what is next so you can save her."

"Save who, Hikari?" Asuka ignored the sensations and forced anger into her words, "What did you do to her?!"

"Nothing," he says, and now Asuka cannot ignore the almost-reverb in his voice, "except failing to keep away from my purpose."

When he stops speaking, his eyes flash red and bass thrum seems to pulse from him and fill the room, striking a chord in Asuka even as the Eva's eyes glow a baleful yellow and alarms go crazy.

"I'm Tabris, and as much as I have fought my nature, I can no longer stop myself." he says, the continued struggle on his face showing he still hasn't given up, "You, Asuka, must stop me."

Gesturing, Unit-03 moves to obey him and both begin to move out of the Cage and toward where Asuka knows is the access shaft for Terminal Dogma.

And it clicks. All the times she'd effortlessly connected with the Eva she Piloted, how she seemed to heal faster than she should, and the feeling she kept getting as Kaworu spoke and took control of the Eva.

She was one too.

The revelation shook her to her core, and had she been a more broken girl, a more prideful girl, it might have broken her too. Instead, she mentally took hold of the liquid fire in her veins and pushed.

And with a thrum of power all her own, and with her eyes glowing blue, she flew off after Kaworu.

Angel or not, she was going to save her family and friends.

000

"Pattern Blue detected in the Evangelion Regeneration Cages!" Makoto yelled, and in an instant the bridge became a scene of controlled chaos.

"Bring up a visual and deploy the Pilots!" Misato yelled as she ran into the bridge, closely followed by Ritsuko.

"Asuka isn't responding, and Touji is in the tram on the way down to the Geofront." Maya alerted the bridge, "Hikari is on her way from the Ready room to the Cages."

"Send Section 2 to find Asuka, track her Nerv cellphone!" Ritsuko said as she moved over to a station near Maya's.

"Video on screen!"

And then silence reigned, as the suddenly regenerated Unit-03 stood and began to break out of the lightly armored Regen. Cage. On its shoulder stood the Fourth Children: Kaworu Nagisa.

"Fourth Children is the source of the Pattern Blue, reclassifying as 17th Angel." Maya said shakily, "Magi confirms change of designation."

"Where is Asuka!" Misato yelled over to Makoto, who jerked away from his station just as the Angel alarms change tone.

"Second Pattern Blue detected!" Makoto yelled, face pale, "It just left the Regen Cage, and has passed the first Pattern enroute to Terminal Dogma!"

"What?" Misato yelled, "Get the pilots in their Evas NOW."

"I have a visual of the second pattern…" Makoto said, then pressed a key.

"No…" Misato murmured, watching in horror at the image now displayed on the massive holographic display, the double caption reading both First Children and 18th Angel, before turning and bolting for the door.

000

Present:

"So it's my choice." Asuka glanced down, frowning in thought, "MY choice, not your's, not the commander's, mine."

"Yes, the choice is your own." Kaworu smiled sadly, and Hikari finally realized what he had been implying with his challenge. Both the Seventeenth and the Eighteenth turned when they heard the strangled gasp that came from Unit-04's external audio. Hikari had backed her unit into the wall beside Heaven's Gate, and dropped to the ground.

"My choice Kaworu. Things don't always go the way people want when I get my way." Asuka swung her gaze back around to Lilith, her eyes blank, as Hikari finally spoke.

"Please, not Kaworu." she choked, "There has to be some way…"

"Only my way." Asuka said tonelessly, and her eyes flashed.

"NO!" Kaworu cried, unable to stop the cross-blast that struck and vaporized the lower half of the Second Angel, and he froze as Asuka screamed, her arms wrapped around her waist as she fell to the ground.

It HURT when she did that. Why did it hurt? Was she connected to Lilith? Maybe. Well, she was going to finish this if it killed her. She didn't want to die, she really didn't, she wanted to be with Touji and care for Rei and Shinji and Mari. She even realized she wanted to celebrate a Mother's Day for Misato and what she'd done for them. But it was her CHOICE. Always her choice. She wasn't a DOLL!

Doll?

Asuka groaned as she sat up and gingerly shook her head. Blinking, she cleared her vision and glared up at Kaworu.

"You can't have things both ways!" Asuka roared, eyes flashing as she fired another blast that knocked Kaworu out of the way, then a third blast that left behind only Lilith's hands nailed to the massive cross.

"You can't- you can't have free-will and still be forced to merge with Adam!" she gasped, "Free-will is being able to make a choice."

Kaworu sank to the ground, falling to his knees as he stared at where Lilith had hung, and watched the hands rapidly dissolve into LCL. The pipes that once were embedded into Lilith's back now hung scorched and useless.

They all heard the hydraulic hiss as Hikari ejected her entry plug.

Running across Lilith's chamber, Hikari flew past Misato, past the barely standing Asuka, and straight to Kaworu.

"Why?" Hikari asked quietly, lightly placing her hands on Kaworu's shoulders as she dropped to her knees in front of him, tears visible at the corners of her eyes, "Why did you try to get yourself killed?"

"Because if I died, The Council would lose. They need Adam, but after Kozo burned him with the Lilim's artificial sun, he became lost." Kaworu said tonelessly, "So they decided to use me, by making me bond with Lilith, because I was genetically the same as Adam."

"But why not just do what Asuka did?" Hikari demanded quietly, fiercely, tears slowly slipping past her rapidly blinking eyes.

"Because I am still an Angel, and Adam and Lilith are the first of us." he finally looked Hikari in the face, and smiled painfully, confusion and sorrow readily visible in his eyes, "Could you kill your parents, if all they did was ask you to come home?"

Hikari pulled Kaworu into a tight hug as tears slowly began falling down his face, realizing for the first time just how much Asuka's mother must have hurt the girl with her death and manipulation from beyond the grave.

"Are these… tears?" he asked, voice filled with a mix of wonder and sorrow, "Am I… crying?"

Hikari shushed him, gently rocking them both back and forth like she had done for her younger sister after their mother had died, tears falling from her own eyes.

As Hikari cradled Kaworu while he wept, Misato walked over to the barely standing Asuka. The redhead seemed to take no notice of Misato's approach, instead she looked out over the LCL lake with half glazed eyes. Before Misato could say anything Asuka half-turned towards her, looking at her from the corner of her eye.

"I don't know what to do." she said, "I couldn't kill Kaworu, and Nerv's job is to kill Angels."

"He's not a threat anymore." Misato said, "Asuka-"

"And me." Asuka cut in, her voice shaking ever so slightly, "I'm an Angel too."

"It doesn't matter."

Misato and Asuka spun in surprise at the voice, and turned to the deep shadows back behind them in the direction of the personnel door Misato had used.

Asuka's eyes widened when Touji stepped out from shadows and began walking towards them, slightly out of breath and still in his track pants and white, now sweat soaked, t-shirt.

000

Five minutes prior:

"D*** it!" Touji gasped, turning and running into the male pilots changing room, "Of all the days I take the long way, it had to be when a' Angel attacks the place! And not jus' one, 'cause that'd be too easy!"

Tearing open his locker, Touji yanks his track suit jacket off and tosses it behind him.

"The 18th Angel has been identified!" Maya's choked voice over the loudspeaker jerks Touji to a halt just as he pulled his plugsuit from the locker, "It's… It's Asuka! No! No, no, no-" ~_SCREECH_

"All Evangelions to Terminal Dogma, I repeat, All Evangelions to Terminal Dogma!" Makoto's voice replaced Maya's, "Hikari, Touji! Get down there and stop Unit Three and Kaworu! Worry about Asuka later!"

"Asuka…" Touji's mind was amazingly calm for someone who just found out he'd been living with the enemy. But then, he would admit, he was a rather simple person. Not simple as in simple minded, but simple in that his view of the world was relatively basic. Good guys help you, and bad guys hurt you. Good guys try to save the world, bad guys try to destroy it.

Asuka had always helped him and his little sister, and helped those twins she lived with before that. She always worked to the limits of her abilities to stop the Angels, and pushed Touji and Hikari to do the same.

"U-unit Four engaging rogue Unit Three!" Hikari's shaken voice announced, and Touji realized the bridge had hit the base-wide switch.

Bolting out of the changing room he ran straight to the elevator Misato-san had told him led down to Terminal Dogma.

"Please let me get there in time!" he prayed.

000

"Weren't ya listenin' to your own speech?" Touji glared, walking up to Asuka and standing stiffly in front of her, "Ya made a CHOICE, Asuka! Ya just took out half of the reason for this whole mess, and the other half was already gone!"

"I'm an ANGEL, Touji!" She cried and grabbed his collar viciously while screaming in his face as her eyes continued to glow a bright blue, "I've spent the last year fighting them, and the four years before that training to fight them! And now I find out I AM one!"

"What's your point?" Touji yelled back, hurt tinged his voice, "Don't ya remember our promise?"

Asuka flinched and jerked back, the glow leaving her eyes, but Touji grabbed her shoulders. Misato's eyebrows climbed as she listened to them. _How did I miss this between them…_

"The. Promise. Asuka." he ground out.

"I promise I'll help you…" she whispered, looking down.

"Tuh keep'em safe…" he continued, waiting for her to look back up.

"And I won't ever leave you…"

"Jus' don't leave me." He finished, "I said then you're too important to me for me tuh leave."

Asuka's shoulders shook slightly as Misato blinked at the revelation that the two had shared with each other the promise Asuka had made while Touji was trapped inside Unit-01. The promise she screamed at Unit-01 the night it released Touji onto the catwalk, right at the girl's feet.

"I wasn't kiddin'."

Asuka took a deep, shaky breath, and reached up and took hold of his hands on her shoulders. Gently holding his hands, Asuka stepped up to him and leaned against him in a near mirror of that evening weeks ago. Misato simply stared in amazement as the self-proclaimed Asuka the Great, someone who claimed they would never need anyone, allowed her mask to slip.

"It hurt, Touji." she whispered into his chest, "Like some cross between when my Eva would be hit, and that feeling when I thought I was being forced to kill another Pilot."

"I got ya…" Touji whispered back, gently holding her, "It's done now."

"Ok." she murmured, determination filling her voice, "I'm Remiel, Angel of Mercy not Choice. Can you handle that?"

"I've handled you so far, I figure this just means I'm not lying when I tell Ken I'm gonna marry an Angel."

"What-?!" the shock, amusement, and joy that fill her face is almost enough to freeze Misato in place, but she clears her throat and interrupts anyways. There are more immediate concerns to be dealt with.

"First," Misato said, carefully, almost gently, "We get out of here. Hikari, bring Kaworu. He can hide out at my place until Seele is dealt with."

"Ok," Hikari called over her shoulder, then gently got the boy Angel to stand, "Come on Kaworu, let's go."

"Misato, you know what I am now. Can you still trust-" Asuka started, only to be cut-off with a sharp wave of Misato's hand.

"Can it, Asuka." Misato snapped, then took a deep breath, "Yeah… The angels took my father away and hurt a LOT of people, and you are one… but you two didn't hurt anyone. You especially are like a daughter to me."

"Misato, what'll we do 'bout Seele?" Touji spoke up as he and Asuka started walking back to the personnel door, while Hikari lead Kaworu to them before running back to her Eva.

"Rits said they might try a frontal assault using the Eva-series." she said, grim faced, "If they do, we'll need all of you at your best. We might have as little as twenty-four hours."

"But three to one?" Hikari asked over the external speakers, sounding doubtful, as she guided Unit-04 through Heaven's Gate, "And Makoto-san is trying to reach you. I'll tell him we're on the way up."

"You'll do fine." Misato said, then finished to herself, "Or it's all over."

000

Asuka and Touji walked into the apartment they shared with Shinji, Rei, and Mari. Stepping into the living room, they found all three kids sitting around the coffee table in the center of the room. Mari sat on one side, a concerned look on her face, and Shinji and Rei sat on the other side looking exhausted.

"Welcome back, Asuka." Rei said, exhaustion obvious in her voice, "I guess you fixed all of our problems."

Asuka's eyes widened, and she dropped to her knees next to Shinji and Rei, gathering both in a hug.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know it would hurt you." she apologized, "When I did it, it hurt, but I didn't think it would affect you."

"It's o-ok." Shinji said, "It didn't hurt that much. Rei thinks that's because we're more Adam than Lilith."

"And," Mari jumped in, "Adam only called, he wasn't connected with the other Angels or anything."

Mari then blinked, looking at Asuka funny, and tilted her head to the side a little.

"Did you say it hurt you too?" she asked, then grinned, "Are you an Angel like Rei-chan and Shinji-kun?"

"Mari…?" Touji looks at his sister with a mix of confusion and surprise, "Did they tell you that?"

"um… no." Mari murmured, looking off to the side, "It was a lady… she looked kinda like Rei-chan, but she was more grown-up."

"What? When?" Asuka looked around the apartment, nervous and no longer exhausted, "Is she still here?"

"No," Mari replied nervously, "It…It was a while ago… I guess the same time as the fight with the fifteenth…"

"What did she say, Mari?" Touji asked calmly, walking over and picking her up.

"Just that I had Angels for friends, and they would need me to help them adjust to being free." Mari smiled, "She said one day you would remove the bait, and be free. That must be today!"

Touji and Asuka shared a look of confusion, wondering if it had been Lilith, or the dream-Rei that had visited little Mari. Touji shrugged, and Asuka smiled back. It didn't matter which one had found Mari, she had made it so the little girl would be there for them and not fear them.

"Yeah," Asuka whispered, just loud enough for the kids and Touji to hear, "Must be…"

000

"Commander, I think you have some explaining to do." Misato said menacingly as she walked past the Section 2 guards at the door to Kozo's office, who saluted her, and marched across the massive room to face the man who thought he held most of NERV's cards.

For Misato, her forty-five Magnum was the ultimate trump card.

"Ah, Kasturagi. I was wondering when you'd arrive." Kozo turned his chair around, bringing the lighting in the room up to normal, "There is much planning to do before Seele plays its last three cards to begin Third Impact."

The simple and direct admission of guilt made her pause, but only for a moment. Snarling, she reached across the desk and grabbed the faintly grinning man by his uniform's jeweled collar.

"I want the truth, you b**tard." Misato drew her sidearm and removed the safety, "And I want it now, or we find out just how important you are to running Nerv."

Kozo paled slightly, but otherwise did not react. "I believe it is really quite simple, Katsuragi. The Children are the key to it all."

"Start from the top." releasing her grip on his collar, she shoved him back to his chair.

"The Children are Nephilium." he began.

"Toji and Hikari aren't." Misato interrupted.

"Would you like the answer or not?" Kozo snapped, "Even Toji and Hikari have some genetic tampering to make them more capable in synchronizing with the Evangelions. All the Children do."

Misato took a threatening step forward. She couldn't _believe _what Nerv had done, just to fight the Angels._ Toying with childrens' genes-_

"It was Yui's plan, and Kyoko's." Kozo said more quietly, freezing Misato in place as he looked down at the surface of the desk, "And Rokubungi went right along with her."

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_A/N: Added a whole section, and edited some of the rest to fit._


	4. Chapter 4

**Neon Genesis Evangelion  
Pilot's Table  
By D.A.**

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Title: I Could Strangle You  
Prompt: Set 30-b / Prompt 16 (Strangle)  
Word Count:900+  
Rating: T  
Summary: Touji takes Asuka out, and she gets them home.  
Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion

Notes: Just a random chapter I wrote out on mission before bed. Part four of the "Angel" arc.

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"I could strangle you right now."

The blunt statement from the redhead beside him gave Touji pause as they stood outside the doors to the resturaunt.

"In my defense, Asuka," he sighed, mildly frustrated, "I did ask ya what ya wanted to do."

"I didn't think you'd take it serious!" she gestured to her favorite yellow sundress, "I only said take me to dinner. I just thought you'd take me to Ichiraku's Ramen Cart like last time."

"You enjoyed it?" he arched an eyebrow, "I though it wasn't up to your standards."

"Did I ever actually say that." was the flat reply, accompanied by an equally flat stare.

"Well..." he sighed, admitting defeat, "No, you didn't. I just thought I'd try somethin fancier."

"Don't get me wrong, stooge." she grinned, "I'm glad you at least know what fancy is."

"But."

Asuka glared, then sighed, "But I think I'd have preferred Ichiraku's."

Shrugging, Touji offered her his arm, and she took it with an air of royalty. Then ruined the image by grinning as Touji lead her into the five-star resturaunt and grinned back at her.

0o0o0

Dinner went well, and they had no problem getting in, something Asuka had been unsure of. Touji, however, had used some fore-thought and made the reservations in person and thus prevented any gaffs when he brought Asuka. The food was good and the conversation refreshingly light after the last few weeks of dealing with Tabris, SEELE, and the UN investigation.

And despite what she had implied earlier, her sundress did not stand out among the other diners. Neither did Touji's school uniform, which he had dug out and prepared specifically for this, despite lacking the black coat.

0o0o0

On the walk home, Asuka found herself distracted by thoughts of the last year, and mild surprise that it had been only a year since she arrived in Tokyo-3 to fight the Angels and met Touji at school.

Her thoughts ranged from her arrival to accepting guardianship of the twins Shinji and Rei. From training Touji when he became Pilot to allowing him and his sister to move in with her to make it easier to protect them and get the two Pilots to the Eva Cages. From getting Kaworu as a Pilot to discovering she was an Angel as well.

It was the last that still bothered her some.

Not that she let it change her, like going by her Angel name of Remiel. She had always known herself as Asuka, and so did everyone she cared about. And really, Remiel was not the whole of her, only an aspect that she had to accept. And Asuka liked to pride herself on being adaptable.

She jumped slightly when Touji lightly touched her shoulder.

"What's got ya spaced out, Red?"

"Whether or not to still strangle you." she smirked.

"Sure," Touji snorted and chuckled, "Really, what's on your mind?"

"Just the other side of me."

"That all?"

Still somewhat distracted, she missed his teasing tone and elbowed him in the ribs.

Crossing her arms she snapped, "Well excuse me for letting a major new aspect of myself distract me."

"Easy," Touji griped, rubbing his ribs, "I was only teasing, not belittling you."

Asuka arched an eyebrow, her expression now amused.

"Yes, I know what the word means." he said in a flat tone when he spotted the look she gave him.

"I know you do, you aren't as dumb as you let people think. Not that you have to act that hard to get them to think that." she teased, then sighed, "It just still bothers me a bit, being an Angel."

"I told ya before, it doesn't matter." he said firmly, "You're still you."

Asuka smiled gratefully, and taking his hand they walked on in silence for a few moments. Suddenly, Asuka stopped and turned to face him.

"You trust me, right?"

Touji saw the slightly pinched look between her eyebrows as she thought, and decided to not be sarcastic.

"Of course."

"I'm gonna try something my S2 lets me do." and she pulled him close, hugging him tightly.

Returning the hug, he set his cheek against hers and sighed a quiet "ok", curious to see what she meant.

And then nearly swallowed his tongue as he fought down a very unmanly scream when a pool of black opened beneath them and sucked them in-

-and pushed them up and into their living room.

As the bright blue glow faded from her eyes, Asuka waited and watched as Touji took several deep breaths and calmed down.

"I could strangle you." was his raggedly given opinion.

And as Asuka's crystal laugh filled the apartment, Touji couldn't help but smile and laugh along with her.

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A/N: Hope you got a chuckle out of it. As I said at the top, it's just something I wrote while sitting on my cot after we stopped at the end of the day. It was a nice break from the serious or pure 'waff' that seems to be my normal writing style. It's actually been sitting in a notebook I take on mission for writing down ideas and notes, and I finally typed it into my laptop so I could post it. When I wrote it, I didn't have my external hard drive so I had to use a different prompt set I had found, so I used "#16 Strangle" from set 30-b. You might have noticed another post uses the same set. lol


	5. Chapter 5

**Neon Genesis Evangelion**

_Pilot's Table_

By D.A.

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Title: Merry Christmas  
Prompt: Set 1 **/ **Prompt 18 (Share)  
Word Count: 1000+  
Rating: k+  
Summary: Christmas party special.

Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or anything connected to it.

Notes: Takes place at some point after the end of I'm Needed. Author's notes at the end.

Part five of the "Angel" story arc.

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"Why do they have me here? I mean, I know these kids are supposed tuh have chaperones, but…" Touji grumbled under his breath as he served another student a ladle of punch.

"Careful how you serve that!" the student in front of him spoke in an aggravated tone, which snapped Touji's attention from Asuka across the gymnasium back to his ladle.

Which was now pouring punch onto the table.

"If you don't like how I'm serving, then you do it!" Touji snapped back as he put the ladle back in the bowl, then blinked when he realized it was that delinquent student.

"Thank you." the boy said, a little more politely, and stepped around the table to take the ladle. Seeing his opportunity, Touji decided names could be remembered later and quickly took off his green apron and passed it to the student. Before the kid had begun to put it on, Touji was already halfway across the gym.

Reaching Asuka, he noticed Hikari and Kaworu had joined her while he was dealing with the student.

"Hey Touji." Asuka smiled, "Who'd you trick into taking over at the punch bowl?"

"That shifty-eyed guy," Touji shrugged, "The one who's always with the Palmtop Tiger."

"Takasu Ryuji?" Hikari asked, "You know he's not a bad guy. And the girl's name is Aisaka Taiga."

"I didn't say he was," Touji defended himself while wrapping an arm around Asuka's waist, "Just he looks like it. Like how everybody always assumed I was a dumb jock."

"Some people still do." Kaworu lightly commented in his faintly musical voice, earning a chuckle from the others, even Touji who gave him a friendly slap on the back.

"Anyways," Hikari, grinning happily, began once the chuckling ended, "As I was telling Asuka, Touji, Kaworu and I are expecting!"

"I always thought Kaworu was a girl." Touji quipped.

And was promptly smacked in the back of the head by Asuka, closely followed by Hikari, while Kaworu simply chuckled at the joke.

"Hey , come on!" Touji complained as he rubbed the back of his skull, "Kaworu though it was funny… Anyways, congrats!"

"Thank you." Hikari and Kaworu replied in unison, smiling, just as the main lights went out and several spotlights focused on the curtained off stage at the far end of the gym.

"Look," Asuka spoke, nudging Touji in the ribs with her elbow, "It's Taiga-chan and Ami-chan's duet."

"Their what?"

"SHHH!"

_Here, Christmas, lots of smiles,_

_A party night delivered to you._

_Here, Christmas, lots of wishes,_

_I vow to you on this holy, holy night._

"When did they practice this?" Hikari asked, unknowingly echoing Ryuji's own words as he stood behind the punch bowl across the gym.

_The Christmas this year is a little special,_

_Even if it's not a white Christmas_

_The illumination of the star dust, piling up on the ground._

_Kira kira shining, everyone is happy._

_Chika chika winking, everyone is seeing their dreams._

"I let them into the music room after school for an hour each evening." Asuka smirked as she tapped her foot to the rhythm of the song.

_The Christmas this year, will definitely be special.A lonely Christmas would be are illuminations, let me decorate it for you._

"Actually, Taiga does kind of remind me of you, Asuka." Hikari commented.

"Feeling a bit nostalgic are we?" Kaworu teased quietly.

_Here, Christmas, lots of wishes,_

_I vow to you on this holy holy night._

"Maybe a little, for our time in high school." Hikari blushed, gaze going distant, "But not for the battles."

"Amen tuh that!" Touji agreed.

"I remember with joy our first Christmas after Seele's failed attack, once you and I had been freed, Asuka." Kaworu spoke lightly, pulling Hikari close and glancing to Asuka as he finished speaking.

"Yeah…" Asuka frowned, subtly leaning into Touji as he stood slightly behind her.

"I hated when you where in isolation…" Hikari whispered, "But it was the best Christmas present I think any of us ever got, when you were released Christmas Eve night."

"And here we are now, normal teachers at a normal high school." Touji said, but when the others gave him a look, he added sheepishly, "Well, as normal as anything can be with us. I'm just glad we get to share it."

0808080

A couple of hours later, once the party had ended, the four retired Pilots gathered again under the glow of the shining Christmas tree, ready to head for home and their warm beds.

"Well, see ya guys later." Touji said as he and Asuka gave their long time friends a hug and handshake goodbye, "See ya when classes start back up."

"I know I don't need to tell you two to keep safe." Asuka added, smirking slightly as she stepped back. "And again, congratulations."

"Thank you, and the same to you, my friends." Kaworu returned as he then pulled Hikari close, wrapping her in a protective hug. "Until then."

With a flash of his red eyes, a sensed-more-than-heard hum, and a ripple of power, a black circle opened beneath the couple, who sank into it. After a bare moment, the circle shrank and vanished.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that…" Asuka murmured, smiling, as she allowed Touji to wrap his arms around her waist, "Ready?"

Feeling Touji's gentle nod against the side of her head, Asuka drew upon her S2 organ just as Kaworu had done and her eyes flashed blue. Opening her own Sea of Dirac, the two fell into the inky blackness. After a moment, it suddenly seemed as if they were floating up, and they rose from another black circle in the center of their living room.

"I'm home." she murmured, the glow fading from her eyes.

"Welcome home," Touji said, hugging her, "Merry Christmas."

"Yeah," Asuka smiled wider, turning her head to look at Touji, "Merry Christmas."

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A/N: Only slight editting.

As you've already seen, this is a crossover with Toradora! And, obviously, starts before Taiga and Ami's performance during the Christmas party in the gym. Set roughly ten to fifteen years after the last chapter of this arc.

Read and Review.


	6. Chapter 6

**Neon Genesis Evangelion  
Pilot's Table  
By D.A.**

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Title: Share Lunch  
Prompt: Set 1 / Prompt 14 (Life)  
Word Count: 1000+  
Rating: T  
Summary: Touji, Asuka and the kids share lunch with Misato.  
Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion

Notes: Just another random chapter I wrote while out on mission. Part six of the "Angel" arc.

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"Did you ever imagined us doing this?" Asuka asked over her shoulder from the kitchen, "back when we were Pilots."

Looking up from his current project, a motorbike Kensuke had asked him to fix up during his free-time, Touji leaned to the side so he coud see through the door seperating the garage from the kitchen.

"Why do you ask?" was his curious response. It wasn't often that Asuka brought up that time in their lives.

"Just," Asuka paused, contemplative, "I can remember thinking I'd always be a Pilot, or become a legendary scientist. I even remember thinking I'd die too young, simply because I was an Angel."

"And now?" Touji encouraged, recalling his own plans for the future back then. Back before he knew Asuka.

"Lunch is ready!" she called into the house proper, before turning to face Touji as he stepped into the house, "Now I can't think of any other way to be. Being so much more free than those old plans would have let me be."

A light stampede of feet from further in the house, followed by a more solid set of steps, alerted them to the arrival of two young children and their guest for the day from elsewhere in the house.

The first around the corner was eight-year-old Mana, the little redhead very much took after her mother except for her bright brown eyes that even now were slowly darkening to match Touji's nearly black-brown ones. A fiery-tempered little thing, she was also the one to bring home various animals to care for, and she could never say no to her little brother's puppy-eyed look.

The second was six-year-old Kyo, his messy brown hair the same as Touji's was at his age, his curious blue, almost indigo, eyes scanning for the promised plate of food as soon as he reached the dining room attached to the kitchen.

And behind the two, grin wide as she watched the children race ahead of her, walked Misato. Her hair had faint traces of grey near her temples and there were faint laugh-lines around her eyes and mouth, but she still moved and observed with the same assuredness and attention she had during her time as Ops-Commander.

"Did you wash your hands?" Touji asked the two, stepping over to the sink after giving Asuka a peck on the cheek.

"Yes, Papa!" they chorus as they scramble into their seats, while Misato takes a chair and Asuka sets the plate of sandwiches on the table, "Thank you, Mama!"

Asuka and Touji take their places, and after everyone has a sandwich they all say, "Itadakimasu!", followed by the children giggling before they all start to eat.

0o0o0o0

After lunch, which was filled with the two children excitedly telling their parents of the various games they had played with 'Aunty Misato', the three adults sat on the back porch while Mana and Kyo ran around the backyard.

"It caught me by suprise when Mana called me 'aunt' earlier today when she asked me to play with them." Misato commented, smiling as she turned from the kids to face Asuka.

"The last time you babysat for us, she asked us when we came home if you were my mom." Touji chuckled, "I didn't want them calling you grandma, you aren't old, but you are family."

"So I told them you were my big sister, and they should call you aunty." Asuka picked up, "Kyo yelled out 'knew it', and his sister looked so annoyed I couldn't help laughing."

"So Mana was the logical one who tried to match hair color, and Kyo tried to match how we act." Misato guessed, chuckling at the children.

"Essentially," Asuka smirked, "You'll get a chuckle out of this, Mana started it the day after she asked what you were. Mana! Kyo! Juice!"

The two kids stopped running circles up and down the small slide and bolted for the porch, carefully taking the juice boxes from Asuka. Touji grabbed three more, passing one to Asuka and one to Misato. Once they all had an open box, Asuka and the two children held theirs out slightly while Touji began to chuckle. All three threw back their heads and guzzled their juices, then slammed the empty box on the deck, leaning slightly towards each other as they grinned.

"YEEEE-HAAAA!"

Misato sat open-mouthed, staring at the three copying her morning routine. These days she drank canned coffee in the morning, but the pattern hadn't changed.

"See Aunty, we can do it too cause we're family." Mana grinned, practically bouncing on her toes.

"You better believe it," Misato managed to get out, smiling, "Now back to your game."

"Kay!" the two chorus, and then bolt back to the slide.

"I wouldn't have minded being called grandma by those two." Misato said, looking to Asuka and Touji as she smiled despite the shine to her eyes, "You were always more of a daughter to me, Asuka."

"I know," Asuka smiled as she leaned over and gave Misato a hug, "even after all these years, the only mother I don't mind hearing is when my kids call for me."

"I thought as much." Misato nodded, "I would never want you to connect that woman with me. So I'm happy to be your big sister."

"That's the life we live." Touji said, "I wouldn't have us any other wa- Kyo, stop using your Field to keep Mana from tagging you!"

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A/N: I know, another "waff" chapter. I honestly can't help myself. lol  
And yes, Kyo inherited enough of Asuka's Angel genes to manifest an AT-Field.


End file.
